Growing abroad

There is no doubt that CATEC has become one of the most advanced technological centres in Spain and a reference in R&D in Europe, especially in areas such as drones and unmanned systems, robotics and industry 4.0, additive manufacturing (3D printing) or non-destructive inspection, which are already marking the present and future of the aerospace industry and other important productive sectors. And not because we say it, but the results that we have achieved throughout our 11 years of history and professional trajectory talk by themselves.

We announced some days ago a new milestone in the history of FADA-CATEC, and especially in our internationalization and growth process towards foreign markets. This is no other than the first project in the field of technological developments in 3D printing outside the European continent, thanks to the collaboration with the company INVAP Argentina, which means our leap crossing the ocean to Latin America, precisely in an area of great value such as components and parts manufacturing for satellites and launchers for the space sector.

In a year in which precisely the city of Seville is assuming and leading the presidency of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA), and Andalusia is boosting its growth in the aeronautical sector reached in the last decade, we are convinced that this new CATEC project will contribute to show the high technological and industrial capacity that our industry has and to continue encouraging our companies to keep on on this good path, betting on R&D and high added value activities.

The latest figures for the year 2017 are again clear and consolidate Andalusia as a region that has not stopped growing in turnover, employment and exports in the aerospace sector, and that already faces the future with new challenges and illusions. The new strategic plan of the sector must be a key element in all this, and the base for the Andalusian aerospace sector to continue growing abroad, with the support of all the agents involved and with the R&D and the promotion of innovation as main allies. Only this way will strengthen our position as a of the fastest growing industries in the European and international level, and with better prospects for the coming years.

Joaquín Rodríguez Grau
Director of CATEC

News

ATLAS hosts the first aerial demonstration in Spain of an anti-drone security system to detect and neutralize danger threats

The initiative was framed within the European project ALADDIN, in which CATEC participates along with 17 other partners from nine countries

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Our Experimental Flight Centre ATLAS Villacarrillo in Jaen hosted in early February a day on unmanned aerial systems testing, which included the first demonstration in Spain of an innovative system of detection and neutralization to face possible threats of this type of aerial vehicles. The initiative was framed within the ALADDIN European project, funded by the Horizon 2020 program, and involving 18 partners from nine European countries, including Spain.

The objective of this project is to study, design, develop and evaluate a set of innovative technologies to create a detection, location and neutralization system for drones that allows their application in the security field, specifically for its use in facilities such as airports, transport stations, ports, or other critical infrastructure, as well as for use by the Police, emergency professionals, coastguards, or operators of government facilities (ministries, parliaments, etc.). The ultimate goal is to develop a system based on anti-UAV technologies, through the application of different functionalities, thus improving security and the use of tools for the operational support of State security bodies and other critical infrastructure operators.

CATEC participates in this project, in which ALADDIN partners carried out integration and flight tests in the ATLAS centre that were completed with the final demonstration, attended by more than 80 entities and users interested in the application of these new technologies.

In addition to these tests, the first drone experiments were carried out in our country under an exception authorized by the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), which involved developing test flights at night and without lights, in order to provide a greater reality to threat scenarios with malicious drones.